For some time, Precious Ramotswe has had the private investigation field to herself. She's had not just the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency but the onlyprivate detective agency in Gaborone, Botswana. But competition arrives when Mr. Cephas Buthelezi—an ex-policeman with big city experience in Johannesburg and New York—opens the Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency. Mr. Buthelezi presents himself as a tough guy who has solved murder cases and jewel thefts, and he warns potential clients not to take any chances: "Entrust your enquiries to a MAN!" Naturally, Mma Ramotswe and her able assistant Mma Makutsi are offended by this typical male assertion of superiority. In their view, women are better suited to detective work not because of toughness or training, but unlike men, they notice things, pay attention, listen, and have a keen understanding of human psychology. Now they'll have to test their talents against a man who threatens to take their clients away. With money in short supply, losing clients would be devastating, especially to Mma Makutsi, who needs greater income not only for herself but for her family. Since necessity is the mother of invention, she comes up with the idea to open a typing school for men. Men are bad typists, she reasons, and they hate to be shown up by women, so a typing school for men might be just the thing to solve her money issues. Little does she know that it might also bring romance into her life. As for Mma Ramotswe, even as she worries over the behavior of her adopted children and the competing agency across town, she must help one client make amends for his past misdeeds and another discover if her husband is being unfaithful. Through it all, the warmth, natural intelligence, and unfailing compassion of Precious Ramotswe shine through, making The Kalahari Typing School for Men as enjoyable as it is instructive.